Catalogue description Department of Trade: Insolvency Law Review Committee: Reports and Papers

The formation of the Insolvency Law Review Committee was announced in the House of Commons in October 1976 by the Secretary of State for Trade. The Committee was appointed in January 1977, its function being to carry out an exhaustive reappraisal of all aspects of insolvency law and practice in England and Wales. This constituted the first major review of its kind for nearly a century and was in response to the need felt for substantial reform in existing law and practice relating to personal bankruptcy and for increased provision for less formal procedures as alternatives to bankruptcy and company winding-up.

The Committee was chaired by Sir Kenneth Cork, and its membership included representatives of the legal and accountancy professions as well as three co-opted members, authorities on insolvency law. The Committee first met in February 1977 and ran for five years.

The terms of reference of the Committee were far-reaching, and as a result two consultative panels of experts drawn respectively from the legal and accountancy professions were set up to help consider the practicability of the Committee's proposals and broad decisions in principle. Initial consideration of many issues was delegated to a number of sub-committees and working parties within the main Committee. To help in formulating its recommendations, the Committee invited written evidence from interested individuals, organisations and Government departments by means of a consultative letter dated March 1977.

An interim report of the Committee was submitted in October 1979, a published version of which appeared in July 1980 outlining the principles upon which recommendations would be based. At the same time a consultative document outlining the proposed reform of bankruptcy procedure was published. The final report of the Committee was published in February 1982.